How to select your Watercolor Paper

water color paper image credit: www.iamart.org website; "Watercolor Paper - Part 1 - Surface Textures"

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I use both watercolor paper and acrylic paper for my acrylic landscapes and abstract paintings. If you are like me there is way to many choices to make when purchasing watercolor paper. Between the choice of cold press, hot press or rough that’s difficult enough to understand, add in the aspect of weight of the paper(?) and choosing the right paper for your project is like being a child overwhelmed in a big toy store.

Rough:
watercolor paper is described as toothy (or having a prominent tooth). It has a coarse, bumpy texture that will draw paint deeper into surface and results in a grainy,textured look.

Hot-Pressed :
watercolor paper is the smoothest. Because of this paint won’t sink in to the paper causing it to dry faster. Hot-pressed paper is good for illustrations, fast paintings and large washes of color.

Cold-Pressed:
paper lies between the other two types of paper. It allows traditional watercolor effects such as letting paint puddle and settle down into lower spots as well as dry brushing over the high points in the surface. Cold-Pressed paper is the most common kind of paper used by watercolor artists.

The best way to figure out which kind of paper is right for you is to experiment and see which works best for you.

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